The Grateful Bread programme served 160 meals to people in need of a helping hand on Thursday night.

Clothes, sheets, blankets, curtains and toiletries — as well as hundreds of avocados and grapefruits suddenly available after Hurricane Humberto — were also handed out at Astwood Hall, Hamilton.

Forty volunteers from all walks of life helped sort clothes, serve dinner, dessert and drinks, make deliveries into the community and clean up.

One of the organisers, Juliana Snelling, said: “It went fantastically. It was very well attended by both guests and volunteers.

“We gave out 120 dinner tickets and everybody had seconds and the team also went out on the streets with 40 meals.

“We played music and danced and the Premier’s wife, Kristin Burt, came straight off the aeroplane, went home, picked up avocados and came to the event and helped serve.”

Grateful Bread’s next event will be on Hallowe’en night and volunteers and guests are encouraged to dress festively.

The programme takes place on the last Thursday of every month “as a thanksgiving event to be grateful together, share what we have and help heal racial and political divisions in our community”.

Children from schools can earn community service points for participating.

Ms Snelling added: “If you are looking for a way to give back for two hours a month in a community fun-filled event that will leave you feeling happy and spiritually healthy and grateful without racial, political, class or religious divisions, come and join us to share in the magic of this social celebration.”